No More Jersey Shore

The announcement that this was "Jersey shore's" last year on the air was greeted with glee in some quarters. My rabbi, for example, gave the news a big thumbs up. The antics of America's favorite group of guidos and guidettes have been evidence exhibit number one that the coarsening of American life has gone as far as it can go. MTV's decision to cancel the show is seen as proof that America has come to its senses. Both observations are obviously wrong. If the history of television has taught us anything, it's that networks and producers are always pushing the envelope in every conceivable direction to increase ratings. Some time soon, a show will air that will make "Jersey Shore" look like "Leave it to Beaver." We have not seen the last of the cast either -- I'm sure MTV has spinoffs planned with every single cast member. Snooki, the Situation, and J-Wow will be with us as long as networks believe people will watch their shows. MTV executives confirmed my suspicion that budget was one of the factors behind their decision when they specifically said budget was not a factor in their decision. Understand that budget is always a factor for media companies -- that's why they keep airing reality shows, because they are generally less expensive than scripted shows, and the ratings are comparable. But a hit reality show like Jersey Shore is an exception. The cast made money similar to actors in scripted shows. With the show in its sixth season the production company almost certainly got a big bump. So MTV execs were faced with a familiar situation: The show cost a lot of money, but its ratings were declining. Should they continue for another year or two, or cut their losses and use the news that this is the last season to maximize the ratings for the season? Clearly, they decided to cut their losses. The statement that MTV just felt that it was time for the network to move on is self serving and I don't agree. No network drops a hit show unless they think the show is no longer profitable. It's a problem we should all have -- if you're a program producer you hope you have a hit show. If you can sustain the show for six years like Jersey Shore you should be happy. If you want to sustain it for longer, do your best to keep the costs under control and do everything you can to make each season seem fresh. Eventually, no matter how hard you try, your show will be cancelled. That's why I said almost from the beginning of this blog, make sure you're working on several projects at the same time. Once you've had a hit show, you'll find most media companies very eager to hear your next idea.